Fatal Attraction
by Rigel99
Summary: Continuing on from Interlude Beneath Botticelli and Sojourn at Sogliato's. I just can't resist wanting Hannibal and Will to find complete solace in each other. With gratitude to Mr Thomas Harris and Mr Bryan Fuller for bringing such interesting and multi-dimensional characters to life.
1. Love Letter from Lecter

**Chapter 1: Love Letter from Lecter**

I stared into the flames as I absently caressed the paper etched with Hannibal's words.

Dear Will, we have all found a new life, but our old lives hover in the shadows. Soon enough I fear Jack Crawford will come knocking. I would encourage you, as a friend, not to step back through the door he holds open. It's dark on the other side, and madness is waiting.

\- Hannibal

I closed my eyes and welcomed the veil. It had been some time since I had invited its lure. With each passing day, waking up next to Molly, I found it more and more difficult to visit our mind palace, the wrench I felt as I pulled myself back from his presence, tearing another piece of my heart and mind to be left for him to feast upon. I wasn't sure how much more of myself was left to give. But each piece left with him, had been replaced by the presence of Molly. She had become to me, as Florence was to Hannibal. She made me human.

But now, reading Hannibal's words, I heard his soft timbre invade and vibrate within me again, whispering sweet everythings of what we had, what we were. I wondered now, at this newly-born monster manifesting between us, pulling us both inexorably back into each other's gravities. It was only a matter of time before our paths would converge once more, to wreck havoc upon the world.

I opened my eyes to watch as he expertly carved a slice of meat from the leg of lamb between us. His dining room had never changed.

"You want me to come, but cannot bring yourself to write the words…," I said.

He spoke as he continued to carve. "I do not wish you to come. Though Jack Crawford may believe you can save lives, I am and shall always be more concerned with yours."

He sat before lifting his wine glass and raising it towards me with a smile. "I fear were I to see you in the flesh again, I might become powerless in the face of the desires you evoke within me." He sipped and placed the glass down again. "And I have become so very adept at managing my needs. It would be shame to spoil my achievements for the sake of a few families."

"And if I need to see you?"

Hannibal swallowed his forkful of lamb before replying. "Then I am powerless to stop you. But you cannot say I did not warn you and try to protect us from each other."

He continued, his gaze one of admiration and want. Though that was more likely my own reflection in his eyes. "Jack Crawford will conduct, I will play and you, dear Will, will be the instrument to sing our deadly composition. Are you ready for that?"

I pulled back to myself and the flames before me. I looked again at the page. Held it close to my face. The scent, unmistakably him, intoxicating and flooding my mind with our former liaisons, fresh and keen as the day he had devoured me whole. I threw it on the fire and leaned back.

The words screamed softly. Not with warning to stay away.

It was an invitation. One which Hannibal understood completely I would be unable to resist.


	2. Breakfast at the BSHCI

"Your taste in aftershave hasn't improved one iota, Will."

"I wore it especially for you, Hannibal. Thought it might bring back some treasured memories."

He was smiling as he turned to face me. "And you thought better than to heed my warning."

"Jack Crawford is a rather persuasive man."

"Persuasive? Or manipulative?," he said with a tilt of his head as he approached the glass. "He is not so far removed from the monsters to whom he dedicates his life in pursuit of. He merely lacks your resilience and fortitude when it comes to stepping into their minds."

He ran his gaze over my body. I felt it prickle my skin, along with the shiver that would normally accompany nakedness. "Married life obviously agrees with you, Will."

Despite the horrendous hospital jumpsuit, with which I had no doubt he had worked hard to reconcile himself, it could not detract from the aura of dominance, allure and sheer magnetism he exuded. He looked even more dangerous than I remembered. My heart was beating so rapidly and loudly I was certain he could hear it, as surely as I felt its rhythm thudding in my ears.

"I wonder if it would have agreed with me more had I pursued a life as a murder husband," I said without a hint of hesitation.

He remained still but I watched as his pupils dilated. I congratulated myself inwardly on being the only person in existence who could evoke such emotion in Il Monstro di Firenze. "Our friend Freddie Lounds still wields a less than stylish command of the English language…," he began.

"… All the while sitting beneath her bridge of missed opportunities. If we did not feed the troll Hannibal, she would be torturing someone else. Consider it another of your pro bono activities in aid of higher mortals…," I finished his train of thought.

"I have missed you, Will," he whispered. "And I wonder if we may yet get to explore Ms Lounds suggested dynamic," he concluded, with ingrained confidence.

I couldn't help but give a quirk of my lips. Even in his current situation, and to all outward appearances, the certainty of a future under the care of Alana Bloom, Hannibal Lecter's skill at maximising his opportunities with long-term intent always left me in grudging admiration. He was irresistible to me. He understood that all too well also.

I held up the Tooth Fairy's FBI file. "Will you help us?"

"No. I will help you. I am powerless in the face of seeing you again in the flesh to decline," he spoke the words not dissimilar to those when we conversed in my mind palace dining room. My fear and desire battled with each other again. Could I know him any better?

I did not take my eyes from his, nor did he once drop his from mine, as I slid the file into the partition drawer. I longed to feel his touch again. I wondered how long I would have to wait?

He briefly flicked through the contents before setting it on his table. He half-glanced over his shoulder. "You will return tomorrow, Will? Give me a little time to review our fledgling protege? Besides, I think my breakfast is about to be served…"


	3. Burgundy on the Bluff

"So Will, have you left your affairs in order?"

"There has always been a part of me that wanted to run away with you. But now, now that we're here, I can't believe it's finally happening…," I said absently, looking out the passenger window of the police car.

"While I do not entertain the idea of destiny, being of the firm belief that destiny lies within my own control, her plans for you and I certainly take some refuting."

"I only wish—…"

"Yes?"

"That I hadn't denied you for so long, Hannibal." I shook my head. "Denied myself."

"Had it been the case that you accepted me at first sight, I don't think I would have found you quite so interesting, Will. The chase has been somewhat thrilling. I wouldn't change a thing."

I chuckled darkly, then sighed at the thought of Beverly. I had to release my former self. Set him free so I could be free.

"When we reach the bluff, I want you to erode any remnants of the person formally known as Will Graham, FBI Profiler. I need to feel you again. All of you…"

Hannibal remained silent. It was refreshing to be in the presence of someone who understood without the need for words.

* * *

The bottle of burgundy and two glasses sat untouched on the bedroom dresser.

"My passion for you knows no limits, Will." The kisses were more forceful than before. Laced with the need that came punctuated by the absence we had both felt in our time apart. Unable to touch, to feel, to breath each other.

"Well that's good because I can't save myself from you, and that suits me just fine," I replied, as warm lips traced the line of my throat towards a bare collarbone.

"When the Dragon comes, we will share his essence."

"To be consumed by your fire is enough, Hannibal. Let the Dragon be my gift to you. As you once gifted me to him."

I lay beneath him, tangled in cool sheets, wrapped and drowning in his maroon-piercing scrutiny. I was lost, completely, and yet I'd never felt more grounded.

"You've changed me."

"We've changed each other. No greater love…"


End file.
